Archive | August, 2016

Scripture for this Sunday: Jeremiah 2:4-13; Psalm 81:1-11; Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16; Luke 14:1, 7-14 There’s been a fuss this week about whether Moslem women should be allowed to wear ‘burkinis’ on French beaches. What is the problem: explosives disguised as fat rolls? It seems rather nonsensical. No one thought of restricting nuns wearing habits during the […]

Five years ago Kate and I set out upon the Camino de Santiago. Having flown from Canada to the UK, our first stage was to travel by train from Derbyshire to Bayonne, in France, and thence to Saint Jean Pied de Port, the beginning of the “Camino Frances,” the most frequently followed route to Santiago […]

Shawn the sheep knows from the sheep-to-sheep communication network that passes things on through the ages that Jesus often talked about sheep and shepherds. In particular, Jesus told his followers that he had other sheep in other places, but that they all still belonged to him, as their shepherd. Sheep understood this very clearly, because they are […]

Scripture for the week: Jeremiah 1.4–10; Psalm 71.1–6; Hebrews 12.18–29; Luke 13.10–17 (Jesus is criticised for healing a woman on the sabbath) In the three-way exchange between Jesus, the crippled woman and the synagogue leader, there is a notable shift in positions. The woman enters, bent double, looking down, but she becomes straightened, able to face the world […]

Scripture for this Sunday: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18; Hebrews 11:29-12:2; Luke 12:49-56 Winston Churchill’s warning about “blood, toil, tears, and sweat,” delivered in 1940, might well have been drawn from Jesus’ words to his followers on the road to Jerusalem. He warned of division and difficulty, with the intent to disturb his listeners into paying […]

Last year, worshippers at Santa Margarita in Menorca were invited to vote for their favourite hymns, the top 15 of which were sung at a ‘Songs of Praise’ event in September. Votes cost 1 euro each, without limit as to the number of votes that could be ‘bought.’ This year we are repeating our Sponsored Songs […]

There will be a celebration of life for John Swift, who died suddenly & unexpectedly last week, at the parish church of El Roser in Es Castell on Wednesday, 10 August at 12:30. The Roman Catholic Church is being used (thanks to the good will of Father Alberto) because too many people are expected to fit […]

Scripture for this Sunday: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20; Psalm 50:1-7; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16; Luke 12:32-40. According to the letter to the Hebrews, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” That being so, hope is the content of faith. Mythology recognises the role of hope in dealing with anxiety and fear: […]